The Famous Adventurer and the Famous Pirate
by R.J.North
Summary: Jade had been on her own for years. After finding out she was in trouble, she turns to Jim and the gang with a proposition. What will happen if her problem follows them on their new adventure? What will Jim think of Jade's horrible past?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I am very sorry to everyone who started to read this story. I had to delete it and fix some things. I hope this is better than the last one and I hope I can get the next chapter out soon. Once again, I'm very sorry.  
>~ Northie<strong>

Chapter 1  
>Proposition and Reminiscing<p>

Jade ran through the rain down street after street searching for the Benbow Inn. The young girl was soaking wet, but that didn't matter. All she was concerned about was getting as far away from that little town as possible. It was no longer safe. No place on Montressor was safe for Jade. Not anymore.

She was on the run. On the run from what she hated most in the universe; pirates. Pirates were no good scoundrels. They were evil, disgusting and cruel beings that only cared for themselves. They would kill anyone who stood in their way. Jade knew that all too well, she only wished that her mother had known that before they killed her.

The only reason she was heading to the Benbow was because a friend of hers that she met at the diner she worked at told her about it. His name was Dr. Delbert Doppler. He was a smart, strange man. He had told her all about the adventure he and James Hawkins went on to Treasure Planet. Everyone knew about Treasure Planet and Captain Nathanial Flint. It was the loot of a thousand worlds.

It had caught her attention. All that gold and treasure, the adventure involved, she loved to think about. That was what she missed most about her old life, along with her passed mother. She loved the thrill, the adrenaline. She loved space, but that was all taken away from her by pirates. Her life ripped away from her in an instant.

She finally came to a building with a sign out on the front saying, _The Benbow Inn._ Once she saw it, she ran straight to the door. She stopped herself and looked behind her to make sure she was not spotted. Nobody was there, the coast was clear.

She slowly opened the door to the quiet place. Nobody was downstairs. She walked in to the center of the room and looked around. The place had a wooded interior. It was very homey. The window screen was place on to a flowery meadow. It was peaceful, pretty and quiet. Jade wished that she could really be there. It would be the first time in two years that she was in anyplace peaceful. She'd like it there.

Footsteps could be hears coming down stairs from the other side of the room. A couple seconds later a body appeared at the bottom of the stairs. It was a pretty woman, around the age of mid-forties. She had long brown hair that was pulled back into a braid. Her brown eyes looked at the young girl with confusion and sympathy.

To the woman, Jade must have looked very odd. Jade was a somewhat short girl that wasn't dressed in a normal girl's attire. She was wearing black pants, which girls never usually wore unless they were working in stalls doing work with animals, working on a ship, or were just plain strange. It was uncommon and considered unnatural for a woman to be out of a dress or skirt unless they were working one the listen jobs – which the woman changed out of the attire afterwards. She had a white shirt on that was by far too big for her small, curvy, womanly frame, with a back shirt under that. The shirt was slightly see through in curtain lighting so the shirt was a necessity for her. On top of her head was a black cabby hat that was also very unladylike. She hadn't grown up in a ladylike environment so how could anyone who knew her ask her to be so?

"May I help you?" asked the woman. It must be Sarah, Jim's mother. Sarah Hawkins, Delbert told Jade, owned the Benbow Inn.

Delbert had told her all about their family. About how they had their father leave and the trouble that Jim had gotten into before they got the map to Treasure Planet, even every detail of their adventure. Delbert loved that she would listen to everything he said. Jade wouldn't admit it, but she looked up to Delbert in a strange way. It wasn't something she could explain.

"Are you one of Jim's friends?" she asked as she got closer to the young, dripping wet girl.

Jade just shook her head in reply.

"Would you like to order something to eat?" she asked.

Once again she shook her head.

"What may I help you with, then?"

Before Jade could say anything, more footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and Delbert appeared with his wife, Captain Amelia, or now just Amelia and their four children. They had three daughters and one son. The son looked like Delbert, in his dogish alien being, while the girls looked like their mother, in all her cat like glory.

"Jade, is that you?" Delbert asked. He walked over next to Sarah, who was in front of Jade. "It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

Once again, before Jade could speak, another person started to walk down the stairs. Everyone looked over to the last person in the inn. It was a seventeen year old boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He was slightly taller than Jade and his arms were muscular. Overall, he was a great looking guy. He walked over to Amelia and started to talk.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"I don't know, but Delbert seems to," Amelia said.

"Jade, is something wrong? Why are you breathing heavily?"

Jade looked around at everyone. She took in a deep breath before talking, just trying to even out her breathing to make herself look slightly more composed. "No, but I do have to talk to you," she said. She looked over to Captain Amelia. "I have a proposition for you."

o-0-o

The four little babies were asleep in a cradle while a soft little lullaby played to keep them at peace. Jade, Delbert, Sarah and James were sitting at a table with warm cups of coffee and hot chocolate. They were trying to warm up the soaking wet young girl before she could say whatever the proposition she had for them. None of them knew what it was, but they were curious, none the less.

Jade took a sip of her hot chocolate and then set the cup back onto the table. She looked up into the eyes of everyone around her, except for James. For some reason she couldn't build up the courage to look in the eyes. She didn't like to be around people her age. She didn't have anything in common with them. Plus, she didn't know how to treat them or talk to them. She had grown up with everyone being older than her. They had all been like a family. She had looked up to them all and they had never taught her to socialize with other people her age. For the most part she didn't have to. She was happy with the way things were, but that didn't last. Things always change and for Jade. It was almost never for the better.

"Do you all know the story of the Shadow Planet?" asked Jade as she picked up her glass for another sip. She had to admit, Mrs. Hawkins' knew how to make a dang good cup of hot chocolate. It was the best she had ever had in any of the planets she had ever been to. This had been many; let's just leave it at that.

"Of course, the Shadow Planet is legendary," Amelia stated her thick northern planetary accent showing. It wasn't a common accent in those parts of Montressor. The only places that you heard accents like that were in the ports or in the northern planetary regions of the universe. . "A place filled with creatures unknown to other worlds. A place were dead bodies are more common than living ones. A place rumored to house all of Tiger-eye Gypsum's treasure he had ever stolen."

"What made you bring this up?" Delbert asked. "Nobody knows where it is except for Tiger-eye Gypsum and his crew and supposedly his son and deceased daughter."

"Am I really that much of a nobody for a somebody to call a nobody?" muttered Jade. Her mother used to say that whenever Jade would get sad and say she was a nobody or when she was getting teased by the other people around her. She didn't quite know what it meant when she was growing up, but it stuck with her. It had only been the till a couple years before that she had finally figured out what her mother had been talking about.

"What was that?" Delbert asked.

Jade hadn't meant for it to be heard by anyone. She just couldn't help but say it. "Nothing, nothing at all, but there is someone who knows where it is. I have the money that I got from work that we could use to get a ship and a crew."

"No, I have a ship and it is easy enough to find people for a crew, but I need to know where you are going with this," Amelia stated.

Jade sighed as she tried to think of a way to put what she was going to say. "A long story short, I have the map to get there."

"You have the map?" James asked in disbelief. "How'd you get it?"

She looked over to him without thinking. She looked him straight into his bright blue eyes. They were the most beautiful blue eyes that she had ever seen. She instantly looked away and to the cup on the table in front of her. "That is none of your concern. You do not see me asking you how you got the map to Treasure Planet, now do you?" she asked sarcastically.

She didn't mean to be rude, but she couldn't help it. It just slipped out. She was usually very polite to everyone around her, but whenever she was around a boy her age or another person her age in general, she didn't know how to act. Plus, whenever she got defensive, she became much ruder than she actually was. It was out of habit, she guessed. When you grew up with the people around her that she had, you would have been too. You were either rude or you got made fun of or taken advantage of.

"Okay then," James said as he looked over to his mother with an annoyed looked. Ever since he became famous from the voyage to Treasure Planet people – or mostly female people – looked up to him. It had been a year since anyone had looked at him like he was a screw up. He didn't like it. And she was giving him that feeling that he hated so much. Who was she to make him feeling beneath them?

Amelia was the next to speak. "May I see this map? I need proof that you have it," she said.

Jade sat there for a moment before doing anything. Then after she thought about it for a moment, pulled off the locked around her neck. It was on a long gold chain that had lost its shine many years before. The locked itself was about an inch in circumference. On the outside of it was, _The true treasure cannot be found with half a heart, but with both parts will it reveal itself to the worthy_. However, she didn't know what that meant in the least. Ever since she had gotten the locket she had been trying to find out what it meant. She was met with nothing.

She clicked the button on the side of the locket. As it opened a hologram flooded the room, showing a map of the galaxy. Little planets, stars and comets floated around the room. It seemed that it wasn't the first holographic map that they had seen, but it wasn't something that you got used to, except for Amelia. She had been a captain of a ship after all.

Jade got up from her chair and looked around for a couple planets in particular. Finally she found what she was looking for. "Ahura Mazda of Sector Five to Mimosa Seven. Then Rama Rhea of the Minsecta twelve to Heret, past the small planets of Janga," she muttered to herself. She was just looking to see if she could remember it by heart. For two years she had been memorizing the path. She had almost all of it down.

After a couple minutes of reviewing the path she twisted the notch three times clockwise to reveal the path. It was easier than remembering it by heart, but if she ever wanted to go back there and she didn't have the locket then she knew how to get there. The path ended at a place where nothing was.

"Well that was a dud. There's nothing there," Delbert said.

"That's not true, Doctor. You see this planet here?" she asked. She was referring to Planet Vulturnus. It was a very large planet that cast a large shadow from the red sun. "This here is Vulturnus. The Shadow Planet is right behind it at all times. It's just in the shadow of the large planet." She tapped where the end of the path was and everything else disappeared. A black round planet was the only thing left in the room.

"This," Jade said. "Is the Shadow Planet." She turned around to look at the other people in the room. "This is Hades Corpus."

"It is magnificent," Delbert said. "How did you learn to control the locket?" he asked. "And how did you know it was there? I didn't even see it."

"The person who gave it to me showed me how to work it," she said. Of course, it wasn't a complete lie. The person who gave it to her really _did_ show her how to work it, but that wasn't how she knew that the planet was there. That was a whole different story. "I studied it for years just trying to figure out the path to take."

"Alright, I am convinced," Amelia said. She stood up and fixed her shirt. "Are you sure this is real?" she asked. Jade knew she wanted to be positive before leaving her children for such a long time. It wouldn't take more than a year, but missing a year of your children's life was huge. Most people wouldn't be able to do it.

"I know it is real," Jade said. "You can count on that."

Amelia walked up to Jade and bent down to look her directly in the eyes. They stayed like that for a couple minutes. Amelia looked straight through Jade. She knew she knew more than she was letting on and Jade knew that, but for some reason she smiled at the girl and straightened back up.

"Alright, Delbert. I see great fortune coming from this. I would like to go on this one, hopefully, you will agree with me on this and you come with us." She walked over to her husband and kissed him passionately. "I want you to be there with me."

"A- a- anything you want dear. I would love to go on another dangerous, I mean delightful adventure with you," Delbert said. "But what about the children?" he asked.

Amelia turned to the sleeping children in the chair. She smiled down at them lovingly. "Sarah, would you look after them? Of course we'll pay you. I only trust them in your care."

"I don't know," Sarah said. "It'll be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt," she said as she turned to James. "Jim, you know you're all I have left. You know I don't want to lose you. I didn't know if you were ever going to come back the last time."

"Mom, I'll be with Captain Amelia, Delbert and," he said and he turned to look at Jade. The look he had on was one of annoyance when he said her name. "Jade, everything will be fine. I survived the last one, didn't I?"

_Yes, but you might not this time. You don't know how far deep I'm connected to this_, thought Jade. She couldn't admit that to anyone though. She didn't want to pass up the offer. She had been waiting for an opportunity like that for years.

Sarah looked over to Amelia and Delbert. Then over to Jade. "I know that Jim knows what he is doing, but do you?" She sounded like her mother had. She was a typical concerned mother.

Jade looked down in embarrassment. She missed how her mother used to ask her the same thing. That was why she was blushing. That was why she looked down to the floor in embarrassment. "Yes, ma'am. I do," Jade said, as she fought the urge to break down and cry for her mother, who had been gone for quite some time.

Sarah looked to the poor girl. Something was up with her that wasn't normal. She had this sadness about her. She seemed to be all alone and nobody deserved that. She needed someone to look after her, even thought Sarah knew she would protest. She most likely could take care of herself, but that didn't mean she should have to. She was still a child.

"Alright, it's settled. We leave in the morning for Montressor Spaceport. I'll call my first mate and get him to gather up a somewhat descent crew," Amelia said.

"Everyone pack and get a good night's rest. You'll need it," Delbert said. He and his wife picked up their children and headed upstairs. They were staying the night at the inn. It was too late to travel back to their place anyways. "Good night everyone." They disappeared upstairs.

The room was silent for a moment. "Mom, where is BEN?" asked James.

"Oh, dear me. I sent him out with Morph to the store for some things. That was before it started to rain. He didn't take an umbrella," Sarah said nervously. "Jim, would you head down to Nelson's to bring an umbrella to him? I'm worried. I don't want him to short circlet. "

"Sure, mom," James said.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you, Jade, but I still have to get a room ready for you. Would you go with him?" Sarah asked.

Jade hesitated. James and Jade were already on uneasy turns. Would this make it worse or better? "I don't mind."

"Thank you," Sarah said smiling at her. "It's nice to have you."

James came over to the door with two umbrellas in his hands. He opened the door for Jade. He opened an umbrella for both of them to walk under. They were silent. It was awkward. They didn't know what to talk about.

Finally, Jade couldn't take the silence. "BEN is a robot, yes?" she asked. Delbert had told Jade about the robot. She just wanted to make sure she had it right. "Bio-electronic Navigator, if I'm remembering the doctor's explanation correctly."

James looked over to her in shock. He thought that she wouldn't talk to him. "Yeah, BEN is a robot." He slightly chuckled. "What else did Delbert tell you?"

Jade looked around at her surroundings. She was uncomfortable out in the open. The pirates could pop out at any time. She didn't want James to get hurt because of her, but he was making a decision on going on the voyage. She couldn't help that.

"He told me everything."

"Like what?" His voice sounded more annoyed at this point. _Oh boy, here we go again_, thought Jade.

"Well, you know Delbert. Once you get him talking he doesn't stop," Jade laughed.

James looked over to her. It was the first time she had ever laughed in front of him. He smiled to himself. "I know what you mean." Then he muttered, "I'm going to kill him."

"Come on, it's not all his fault," Jade said. She got a slightly strange look from the boy next to her. "I was fascinated with the stories. Every time he told me the story he's add more and more detail. I love stories like those," she said.

"I know what you mean. I grew up with the story of Treasure Planet and I always wanted to go and find it," he said. "All I want is to make my mom proud of me. I want her to be happy for the rest of her life."

Jade sighed. "I know what you mean," she said. James was about to say something to her, but she interrupted him. "I can tell she loves you and she's really proud."

James was silent for a moment. "Thanks, that actually means a lot to me," he said. Once again it was silent for a minute, but this time it wasn't as awkward as before. "What about your parents? What are yours like?"

Jade hesitated before answering. She wasn't comfortable talking about her parents. It was a subject she's rather not talk about. Her life hadn't been easy and her parents were mostly to blame for that. "My mother was great," she said sadly. "Your mother reminds me a lot of her, James."

"You can call me Jim if you'd like," he said. "James sounds too formal."

"Alright Jim," she said with a slight smile. "And about my father," she started.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He knew how uncomfortable the subject could get. He hated to talk about his father. From the sound of her voice, her father couldn't have been much better than his had been.

A bigger smile came across her face. "It's alright. My story about my father isn't completely different from yours," she said. Although, in a way, it was completely different. "My father wasn't the best role model or the fatherly type. Sure, he was around, but he wasn't my father. No, he was far from that."

They walked in silence the rest of the way. Jade had no idea where the heck she was going so he followed Jim as best she could. She wasn't the type of person to follow, but she knew when she had to. This was one of those times. Usually Jade was on her own. She could lead herself. She had led others before, but that was a whole other store.

Within a couple minutes, the two teenagers came to a small grocery store that was made out of brick. The sign on the door read, "CLOSED." No lights were on and the place seemed to be dead. Outside was a red awning that sheltered two people from the downpour that was hitting the planet.

The people under the awning were BEN and Morph. BEN was a robot that they had found when they landed on Treasure Planet. He had been Nathaniel Flint's navigator. Jim had taken him back when they left the explosive planet and he had been staying with the Hawkins' family ever since. The other person was Morph. He was a little pink blob that was a, well; the name really said it all. He was a Morph. He could transform into, well anything. It was just a small version of whatever it was that he was changing into. He was adorable to say the least.

Morph was transformed into a rain cloud that was thundering and lightning. You could hear him shouting in his little voice saying, "Boom, Boom, BOOM!" Then he'd giggle. It was a cute sight, but BEN was making the matter a little depressing. Ben was sitting there against the building with his head in his hands. He was overly bored to say the least. You could hear him singing, "Rain, rain, go away, don't come back another day."

Jade couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the two strange beings. Her soft noise seemed to catch the attention of the two stranded beings. BEN looked over at the two figures heading towards them. It seemed to take him a moment or so to realize it was Jim and another being, but it was understandable. It was raining and everything was in a soft, but thick haze. You could barely make out anything with ten feet of yourself.

"Jimmy!" Ben yelled to his friend. He started to jump up and down as his friend grew closer and closer to where he was. It was a funny site, but Jade could tell that Jim for some reason was walking a little bit slower as he got closer to Nelson's.

When they reached them and stood under the awning with them Jade could see why. Ben jumped onto Jim and embraced him in a large hug. It seemed overly dramatic to Jade, but whatever. If that was how he wanted to great his friends so be it. It was his choice to make, not hers. She'd rather just give a subtle head nod in the person's direction. That or just say hello. Where she grew up, the people around her didn't even acknowledge somebody sometimes. They spent every single day together. There was no need to great them over and over again.

That was when he seemed to notice Jade. "Why Jim's got a new friend," BEN said. He walked over next to her and leaned closer. "And who might you be, pretty lady?" he asked in a flirtatious tone. It slightly creeped Jade out, but it wouldn't be surprising if you knew who. She never got hit on. Maybe hit upon, as in physically, but not in any ways flirtatious.

Jim pushed BEN back a little to give Jade a little personal space. "This is Jade. Jade this is BEN. The robot you've heard so much about," he said.

"Oh, really now," BEN muttered, while wiggling his electronic eyes as if her were raising eye brows. "You've heard of me. I never knew I was so famous."

"Oh yeah," Jim played along. "Delbert has told her all about how dorky and weird you are."

Jade could help but snicker. She didn't mean too. It just slipped out. "I'm Jade, BEN." She stuck out her hand for the robot to take. However, when he took it he pulled her close and hugged her like he had with Jim. Jade acted out of habit. She hit him, sending him backwards after letting her go. She wasn't used to physical contact.

"Oops," she muttered after she realized what she had done. "I'm not a hugging kind of person."

"No problem at all JayJay. Jimmy was the same way the first time we met. Right Jimmy?" he asked Jim. Jim just rolled his eyes at his robotic friend. "Any who!" he shouted. Jade didn't like how loud he was. It could attract the wrong kind of attention. The kind of attention that she didn't need. "How'd you two meet?" he began. "Did you run into her on the street? Was she stuck with no umbrella and you, being a gentleman and all, ask her if you would like her to walk her home? Did you two go to school together? Are you old friends? Are you secretly dating and not want anyone to know?" Jim and Jade both looked at each other and blushed at that.

_Leave it to BEN_, thought Jade.

"Come on, genius. Let's go home," Jim said. He opened the other umbrella and gave it to BEN. They started to walk about to the inn. "You can continue to guess, but you're never going to get it right."

BEN took that on as a challenge. He just had to continue after that. It did make the walk back seem more interesting. "Are you a new worker at the inn? How about, a cousin? No, how about best friend? No, that's not it. I'm his best friend. Are you just some random guest who wanted to go on a midnight stroll with lover boy?" She couldn't help but smile at all the things he was saying. Sure, he may be loud and somewhat annoying, but he was entertaining, Jade had to give him that. "How about a kidnapper that is keeping him hostage? You're a pirate treasure hunter that is robbing us of all the money we have?"

Jade tripped and almost face planted herself into a mud puddle. She wasn't expecting that to come out of him robotic mouth. No, not at all. However, BEN had worked for one of the world's best and well known pirates of all time. Maybe he knew the story of Tiger-eye Gypsum. Even if he did, he couldn't possible know what Jade had been through. No, it wasn't possible.

"Are you alright?" asked Jim as he helped Jade steady herself. "You got to watch these roads. They're terrible."

"Yeah right," she muttered nervously, forcing her arm out of Jim's grip. She shook herself out of the trance she had fallen into at the word "pirate." _Act normal_, she thought. _They know nothing. I'm fine. They haven't found me yet. They wouldn't find me. We'll be gone by tomorrow_.

BEN continued to try and figure out why she was there the rest of the way home. Jade wasn't listening to any of it. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to pay any real attention. She'd hear Jim laugh every once in a while and smile to make them think she was listening and enjoying what humor that BEN was trying to lay out. Overall, she just wanted to get back to the Benbow to get some rest. She wanted to find something dry to change into and try to get a good night's rest. Although, she never had a good night's rest.

When they got back, Sarah had gotten Jade a room ready. She had walked her up the stairs and down a couple hallways to a small, but comfortable room with light green walls and nice wooden furniture. The bed was on one wall with two night side tables. One was on each side. Across the room was a door to the bathroom. Next to that door was a large, long dresser that had a beautiful mirror fixture built into it.

Sarah walked into the room and set down the dry cloths that she had dried from her backpack that she had brought with her. All the contents had been wet so Sarah had dried them for her while she was gone. Jade was thankful that she didn't have anything in it that would make her look suspicious or in any way scare Sarah. She liked her and would much rather her stay friends, although after they got back from the trip – _if_ they got back from the trip – she never wanted to see her again. That, was a long story that she never really wanted to get into.

"Jade," Sarah said as she turned to the girl who had been lost in her thoughts once again. "Yes?" replied Jade.

"Are you sure you would like to go through with this? I mean, going out into space is one thing, but traveling across the universe in search of a treasure that may lead you to being attacked by pirates is something completely different. I know that Jim can take care of himself, but are you sure you can do this? You don't look like you could hurt a fly. Are your parents okay with this?"

Jade was taken aback by the sudden concern from the woman that she had just met only hours ago. Why was she so concerned? She didn't know Jade. She knew nothing, which wasn't a complete lie. She had to know about her, but not know it was her. Once again, one subject she would much rather not thing about.

_You have no idea what I can do,_ she thought. _I've been more places, fought more people, and seen more things that most people would never want to see in their whole life. Yes, it was adventurous, but it was what I have been doing, or rather dealing with, my whole life. Danger is my middle name, literally. _

"Yes," Jade said. Out of habit she rubbed the top of her left hand. It was an old habit she had been meaning to lose, but there was the saying, "Old habits die hard." "My parents don't care. They'd want me to follow what I believe in."

_Yes, but you have no idea how much that is linked, _she thought.

"As long as you know what you're doing," Sarah muttered. "Well, good night. You have a big day out ahead of you. You need your sleep." With that, Sarah walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Jade stood in the middle of the room for a couple minutes. She was uncomfortable for some reason. Sarah was a sweet woman. Why was not telling her anything bothering Jade? She did that to everyone. She could risk getting the hurt or worse. Jade shook her head to get that thought out.

_No,_ she thought_. I'm not going to let anyone get hurt_. _I won't stand for it any longer. They are done ruling my life. I make my own decisions. I'm strong, smart and independent. Well, not really independent_. She shook her head once more. _No, I'll make something of myself. I'm not going to let them rule me. No, I'm going to make you proud mom. Just like you said. I can do anything I set my mind to. That's what I'm going to do. I want to make you proud. Too bad you're not here to see it. _

With that, Jade grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom to clean herself up. She needed to keep herself somewhat proper and clean. She hated to feel dirty. It was _savage_. She may be a street rat, but she had _some_ standards.

o-0-o

Sarah walked down the stairs to see Jim and BEN having a slight argument, like they usually did. Jim had explained to him that they would be leaving in the morning for the space port. BEN wanted to go on the trip, but Jim wasn't sure he could. Who would help his mother? She needed him there. Not with him. In the end, BEN won. He was going and there was nothing Jim could really do about it. Sarah did have a couple other workers she had hired a couple months before, but none of there were near as good as BEN was.

"Jim," Sarah muttered. She was looking up over to the stairs concerned.

"Yeah mom?" he asked. He was looking at her slightly worried. Had Jade said something to her that made her upset? Was she not feeling well? He was always concerned for his mother. He was the only real family he had. He loved her and wanted her to be happy. She was his mother, after all.

"I want you to look out for Jade," she said. "She seems to have a lot on her mind all the time and she always looks like she's nervous. I fear that she's into something she's not telling us." She walked over and sat down at the table that they were sitting at. She looked to her son, still concerned for the girl. "You should have seen the look on her face when I mentioned the word "parents" to her. I couldn't tell it she was sad, angry or petrified."

"When we were walking on the way to Nelson's we were talking. She said her mother was nice, like you and her father was never the fathering type. He was around, but he wasn't a good guy," Jim said. "She seemed so distant."

"Promise me you'll look out for her. She just seems lost to me," his mother said.

"Sure mom," he replied. "Whatever you'd like."

"If you ask me," BEN butted in. "She's got something to hide."

Jim looked up at the stairs like his mother had done. "Don't we all?" he asked.

o-0-o

Jade stood in front of the mirror in her room. She had just walked out of the bathroom in only a towel. She was shocked at how much better she looked after all the dirt was whipped away. The dirt that was caked onto her skin made her look like she had a tan, but really it was just filth. She felt better than she had in a while. She was slightly less tense and relaxed.

She was examining herself in the mirror. She never really took the time to look at herself, but she had time. She was on her own, locked in her room. She was safe or somewhat. She really didn't need to worry about taking the time to see how she looked. This was just something she was doing out of pure boredom and not wanting to lay in bed yet.

Jade had long black hair that hung down to the middle of her back. It was shiny and silky smooth. She used to sit with her mother and brush it together every night. Now she just pulled it up and slid a hat on. Sometimes she would even be too lazy to pull it back. Her skin was actually pale. The dirt was what made her skin seem tan. Her gorgeous jade green eyes seemed to just light up with the contrast of her dark hair and pale skin. She was skinny. Puberty had done wonders for her. If she was to dress properly, or to at least tie back her large shirt or just wear the tank top she wore they would see how nice she actually looked. However, she didn't want the attention. Attention was bad.

All over her body were visible scars. Some were large, others small. However, they could all be seen perfectly clear against her pale skin. Which, she did not like. It was a reminder of her past.

She could help but think of it when she was alone. She had lived with her father and mother growing up, alongside her older brother, Onyx. Her mother, Silvia was the sweetest woman you would ever meet. Even nicer than Sarah Hawkins. She was beautiful, she had passed down her wondrous looks to her two children, along with her manors and kindness, or so she tried.

It was a mystery to everyone who knew her to how she fell in love with such a horrible, cruel man. She married Tiger-eye Gypsum. Or rather Marcus Patrick. That was his real name. He had taken on the name Tiger-eye Gypsum because, really, who could respect or fear a pirate named Marcus Patrick? Nobody, that's who.

So, the two were married. Silvia stayed in Marcus's cabin on his pirate ship for the first couple years of their marriage, but that didn't last forever. It seemed she could always have her way with her husband, or maybe he just didn't want to put up with her so he just let her, but she'd go out and help in the kitchen. She was one of the best cooks in the entire universe. Or as good as you could be with the food on a ship.

After a while, Onyx was born. Marcus couldn't have been more pleased to have a son to take over for him when he got too old for pirating. He wanted to train him to become the best pirate ever. Silvia had other thoughts. She taught her son manors and knowledge. She got him to think. To use the brain he was given. He was smart, but he liked what his father was doing more.

Then, Jade was born. Silvia was more than pleased. She had always wanted a daughter. She wanted to be able to raise her good and true. She raised her to be polite and smart, like she had with Onyx. Silvia and her daughter were the closest anyone had ever seen a mother and daughter be.

However, Marcus got the idea that having a daughter wasn't so bad. Who had ever heard of a woman pirate? Nobody! So, why not raise the first and the best? Onyx and Jade could rule space! He'd go down as a legend for raising the two best pirates in history. And so, he started to train Jade as well.

Silvia wasn't too fond of the idea and neither was Jade, but what could she do? Nobody spoke back to daddy dearest, nobody. He's kill you without a second thought if you pestered him. Jade went along with it.

She was raised as a pirate along with her brother. She had been too many planet, seen many things, did many horrible things. She never stooped as low as most, but she was a pirate none the less. She was even branded with the mark the Intergalactic Police put on pirates. She wasn't proud of it and neither was her mother, but there was nothing she could do. She was trapped. She'd steal one of the long boats, but she couldn't leave her mother. No, they were still the best of friends and she couldn't do that.

However, Silvia wouldn't leave her husband anyhow. She was his wife. He was the love of her life, although nobody could understand why. Maybe she was just too attracted to bad boys, but nobody really knew. They weren't brave enough to ask. You didn't dare upset the ruthless Captain Tiger-eye Gypsum's wife. No, you'd be dead before you could say, "Sorry," or "I didn't do it."

Marcus had heard back Jade's plan about running away as she told her mother. He wasn't too please with that. Not. One. Bit. So, he did something nobody thought he would ever do. Thought that anybody would ever do.

He killed Silvia.  
>That was when Jade knew she had to get away. If she didn't he would most likely kill her too. So, that very same night, only an hour after the crime took place, she <em>commandeered<em> a longboat. She took it to the closest planet and took a job on a ship as a cabin boy. She had taken up the role as a boy to get the job. It was the only way. She had to get as far away from them as possible.

She moved from planet to planet. She lived on at least seven planets since she escaped when she was fourteen. She was now sixteen. She had lived on Montressor longer than she ever had on any planet. It wasn't the wisest of things to have done, but she was glad she had. She wouldn't have met as many of the kind people if she hadn't.

Then, she got word that her father had been spotted searching the other side of the planet for Jade. She had to leave, that was why she had been in such a hurry to get to the Benbow. She was afraid that they had gotten to the other side of the planet and would find her. She couldn't be found. The worst they could do would be to kill her, but that was what they hoped they would do if they caught her. She hated the thought of pirating again. She loved to sail, but pirating was a completely different thing. It was a whole other lifestyle.

"He'd never expect me to go there," Jade said to herself. "No, he thinks I'm scared. He thinks I'll run. But he's wrong. I'll get him back by taking his treasure. I'll get him back for betraying you, mother. If it's the last thing I do."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to get this one out, but I hope you like it. Writers block sucks. I'll try and get the next one out as soon as I can. I'd also like to thank TMNTdisneyfan2013 for reviewing. Please tell me what you think**

Chapter 2  
>Early Morning Grouch<p>

Jade had woken up at about the same time she usually did every morning. She was up before the sun came up and got everything together so they could leave right away. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She didn't want to risk being there any longer than needed. She had already risked a lot by being there as long as she had.

She had changed out of the clothes she used every night to sleep in and into her typical attire. She slid on her black tank top, her thin white shirt, long black pants and her black hat. The most important thing she wore, however, was none of that. The most important thing was the worn down brown work gloves. She never took them off endless she was alone and knew nobody would intrude. The gloves covered her left wrist where pirates were branded. The burn symbol of a _P_ was forever scared on her body.

She went downstairs after getting everything ready. She expected to see everyone up and ready to go. She was disappointed to find only Amelia downstairs. She was sitting at one of the many tables with her two bags packed on the table and a cup of steaming hot black coffee in her hands. She looked ready to go, just as Jade was.

"I see somebody is on time," Amelia said. "I should have told them the wrong time. Maybe that way they would have been down here by now. At least I know BEN is ready. He's in the kitchen."

Jade sat down at the same table as Amelia. She set her things down on the floor next to her chair as she sat on the edge of her seat, pulled away from the table. She usually always sat on the edge of her seat in case she needed to make a fast break. It was something all pirates did. She learned it in Pirating 101.

She remembered another rule that she learned from her father. Either be early or on time or left behind. Many pirates made the mistake of being late and getting stranded on planets far from their own or no way off. Most of them would die of starvation or dehydration. Jade made sure to never be late for anything. Watching the people as they sailed away left her traumatized.

Amelia saw this and gave her a strange, but subtle look. She didn't want it to be obvious about her suspicions. Jade saw, however and made sure to make it look like she was just practicing good posture. It was a lame excuse, but it seemed to work on a lot on people. Some people were just too dim to realize it.

"So," Amelia started. "Where are you from?"

Jade hesitated for a moment. She couldn't possibly tell them the truth of where she was from. It would give everything away. No, she had to come up with a new characterization, a new back story. "I lived on Earth for a couple years with my mother when I was ten."

"Why did you relocate here?" she asked.

"My mother passed away and I moved here with my father," she replied. "He ran off after a couple years with a girl half his age and left me to fend for myself. I've been doing okay on my own. I got a job at a diner and that's how I met Delbert."

"How is it you came across the locket?" she added.

_So, she had been building up to that. I should have guessed_, Jade thought. _Well, better think of a new subject without being too obvious_. "I…" She was cut off by someone fumbling down the stairs.

Delbert appeared at the landing of the stairs with two bags, one in each hand. They seemed too heavy for him to carry on his own. He was a weak fellow so that meant Amelia or Jade could have been able to carry them with ease. The poor doctor wasn't the best at impressing people with his physical appearance.

"Sorry I'm late," Delbert muttered. "I couldn't shut the suitcase."

"It's quite all right," Amelia said. "We're just waiting on Hawkins. God _forbid_ he ever be on time."

"Jade, would you be so daring, de- a dear and go get him? It's the last room on the right," Delbert said. "He should be up or at least I'm hoping he is. It's not like he doesn't get enough sleep." What Delbert said confused her for a moment, but she got up was going to do it anyways.

Jade stood up from her seat as Delbert took his place on the other side of Amelia. She went upstairs as Amelia started a nice conversation with her husband. It was as if she hadn't even been there in the first place. Delbert and Amelia acted as if they did that every morning. It most likely could have been.

The hallway was much longer than the one her room had been in. She passed all the rooms in the hallway quietly making sure not to wake any sleeping, mostly all of the guests. She didn't want Sarah to have any complaints.

On the door at the end of the hallway had a sign that said, "_JIM'S ROOM. DANGER! DO NOT ENTER_!" She really didn't get why people put signs like that on their bedroom doors. She understood if it was on a door that had sometime in it dangerous, but it was only Jim's room. What could possibly be in there that was so dangerous?

Jade knocked three times and waited to see if any movement could be heard in the room. Nothing came. She was starting to get a little frustrated. He was really the only one they were waiting on to leave. Amelia and Delbert were downstairs and BEN was in the kitchen. She was starting to get annoyed with that boy. Annoyed wasn't a good thing for a girl who was raised a pirate.

She got tired of waiting after a couple minutes of silence. The door wasn't locked so she could just walk in. That was what she did. Even if it was locked she knew how to pick a lock. She had been doing it since she was five.

The room looked like a hurricane hit it. Clothes were laying on the floor like he had just thrown them out of a basket. The trash can in the corner was over flowing with crumpled up pieces of paper. His desk was cluttered with open books, papers and other things. She had no idea what the heck he had been researching, but it looked like he was doing a lot of it. Although he wasn't up, his bag was fully packed by the door.

Jade walked over to the desk to investigate a little more, but Morph popped up in front of her face and directed her attention to the sleeping form tangled in blankets on the bed. His brown hair was not pulled back like it had been the night before. It was tangled and hung in his face. His mouth was hung open, but he wasn't snoring nor drooling. He was laying half on the bed and half off. One leg hanging over the side. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Jim," she said, trying to wake him from his slumber. Nothing happened. She started to shake his shoulder gently. "Come on, Jim. Wake up!" He just turned over. Alex growled. This was irritating her. She moved closer to his ear and yelled, "Get up, Hawkins!"

"Five more minutes, Mom," he muttered in his sleep.

_He thinks I'm his mother?_ she thought. _That's _not_ weird. _"No, get up now! We have to go!"

He rolled over again, however, this time he smacked Jade in the face. She was stunned to say the least. He had _bitch clapped_ her _in his sleep_. She growled again. She was fed up with him. If he wasn't going to get up then they should leave him behind. She didn't really want too, but if that was what she had to do to get the heck out of there than she would.

Jade and her older brother used to pay tricks on people that wouldn't get up when they were younger. It was a fun game until they actually got chased around by the angry pirates. No matter how many times they got in trouble or chased around for it though, they continued to play their game. They were just _kids_ after all. Pirate kids.

"I'm gonna have fun with this," she muttered to herself. There were so many things she could chose from to do. There was always the classic bucket of water, flipping the mattress or the loud radio tricks, but then there were the less known ones. What to choose, what to choose…

Jade looked at her pocket watch to see it was getting pretty late. She wanted to be out of there by five. They had ten minutes till then. There wasn't much time for a well planned out elaborate scheme. She had to settle with one of the simple things to do. That wouldn't be as much fun, but it would have to do.

The scheming girl quickly, but quietly ran out of the room and down to the kitchen. The door shot open with easy. "BEN, I need a bucket. Got one I can borrow?" she said in a rush.

"Of course," he said. "Right over there, missy." He pointed to a distinct area in the corner of the room.

"Thanks," she muttered as she grabbed on and shoved it into the sink. She made sure to turn the water on to cold. A couple minutes later the bucket was completely full and being carried out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into Jim's room.

She smirked to herself as she entered Jim's room again. Without any hesitation, she dumped the ice cold bucket of water into the sleeping person on the bed. Within a moment, Jim shot up with the sudden shock of the cold and looked around the room with wide eyes to see who had done the heinous crime. When his eyes landed on Jade, they formed into slits with daggers being shot at the girl laughing hysterically. She was trying to not fall on the ground laughing.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

"I tried to get you up," she said between pants. "But you sleep too deep. You wouldn't get up."

"You didn't have to throw a bucket of water on me!" he yelled. "What is wrong with you?"

"A lot of things," she said, still laughing. "But that was funny."

Jim let out a growl as he stood up and of out of the soaked bed. Jade could now see what the Hawkins boy had been sleeping in. He had just been wearing a pair of his boxers. Her eyes widened as she watched him walk over to his dresser and pull out a set of clothes to change into.

James Hawkins wasn't the boy that Dr. Delbert had described to Jade many a times. No, he was a young man. He was taller than the girl who stood there dumbfounded. She could clearly see what working on the ship had done to the boy. Not only was the front of him chiseled and defined by muscles, but so were his arms, back and legs. He was strong, that was for sure. He was a very nice looking man.

"Geez Hawkins," she let out in a huff. She quickly turned around and walked to the doorway, trying to not stare at the boy and to hide her red face. "Have you ever heard of clothes?"

"I was _sleeping_! What right do _you_ have to barge into _my_ room and bump a bucket of water on _me_?" he yelled.

"Delbert asked me to come and get you up! What else was I supposed to do when you wouldn't get up?" she yelled back. She turned around without thinking. Hawkins had been standing there behind her, at that point. She gulped and tried to keep her composer. "I nicely asked you to get up and I gently shook you. I yelled at you and you just mumbled, 'Five more minutes, Mom.' I yelled again. In your ear even. You just slapped me in response, Hawkins! What else was I supposed to do? Flip the bed, yes that would have been funny too, but I'd rather not make an even bigger mess in your pigsty that you call a bedroom!"

She turned around with one last huff and walked, or rather stomped down the stairs. She grabbed her bag off the table and muttered, "I'll be outside."

Outside was still dark and it seemed as if it hadn't stopped raining at all from the night before. It actually seemed like it was raining a lot harder. The cool air seemed to calm her down a little, but being out in the open without any kind of weapon to defend herself with in case something happened made her nervous. Her father's crew could be two blocks away for all she knew. The sooner they got off that planet the better. For her, anyways.

Jade pinched the bridge of her noise and she took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was rather early for her liking. She had no problem getting up. She understood some things were better early in the morning. That didn't mean she really liked to get up that early. She enjoyed being asleep usually. She liked her relaxing time. The only time she didn't like sleeping was when she got nightmares.

"I'm so not a morning person," she muttered to herself.

The door behind her opened and Amelia walked out with her bags under her arm while Delbert tried to carry his bag with BEN and Jim, who also had his bag over his shoulder. Jade walked a couple steps behind everyone to keep a look out for anything that was suspicious. She never let her guard down.

They placed everything in the back of the carriage. There were two rows in the wooden wagon. Amelia, Sarah and Delbert were sitting in the front so they could steer while that meant Jim, BEN and Jade had to sit in the back with one another. That would be fun, now wouldn't it? Jade couldn't wait to see how this was going to play out.

"You pour a bucket of water on me and you're the one who's soaking wet," he laughed.

Jade just rolled her eyes and watched the rain fit puddles as they passed them by. "That's mature," she muttered.

"And throwing water on me to wake me up isn't?" he retorted.

"Yes, yes it is," she said knowing very well it wasn't. She could be a hypocrite sometimes. She didn't like to be one, but that was just how things happened sometimes.

He laughed in an annoyed manor. "It's karma," he said.

"Karma?" she asked in disbelief. "I don't believe in karma."

"Believe it," Jim said. "It'll come back and bit you. Bit you hard."

Jade looked at Jim with narrowed eyes. "Is that a threat, Hawkins?"

"I don't know," Jim said, playing dumb.

"I'd suggest you hold back comments like that, Hawkins. I'm not someone to mess with," she warned. She could see he was confused and a little threatened by her. That was what she wanted. She didn't like having to go around knowing somebody was thinking about getting back at her. Although, a lot of people were. She had a lot of people against her. That was another reason why she was so nervous.

Jade wanted to say more, but she bit her tongue. She couldn't risk slipping out anymore than she already had by losing her temper. She couldn't have Amelia or anybody else getting any more suspicious about her than they already were. It could mean the difference between life and death. She wasn't ready to put that much of her trust in any of their hands. She barely knew them except for Delbert who slipped up on a lot of the things that happened in his life. She wasn't ready to trust anyone that much. She hadn't in a long time.

Jim seemed to back off after that. He didn't know what it was about Jade that made him believe her, but he did. Maybe it that the strict, threatening, coldness in her voice. It could have been how pale her face became or how ice cold her eyes got. Then there was the tight grip she had gotten on her pants. Something told him to believe her. So, he backed off.

The ride seemed longer than it really was. It was possibly the weather, but Jade loved the rain. She loved to listen to it. She loved how when she stood in it, it made her lose feeling of her body, her pain, everything. She didn't like to know she was alive while her mother was dead. How it was _her_ fault she was dead.

The shuttle to the Montressor Spaceport was rather crowded and uncomfortable. Now Jade remembered why she hated shuttles so much. If something happened, whether it was an accident or attack, it was extremely hard to get out or fight without hurting an innocent person. Her mother always told her that she had to avoid getting innocent people hurt. It wasn't an option.

Jim had been standing in front of two little children. One was a boy and one was a girl. They kept kicking him in the knee, pulling the hair on the back of his head and screaming in his ears. Jade couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune. Jim looked over and glared at Jade.

A being walked up in front of Jade and pushed her up against a window. It was by a rather large Plosugian. They were rather, well, large beings that smelt like dying fish, onions, purps and burning hair. It was a horrible combination of things that should never be paired together. However, everyone from the planet Plosugi smelt like that. The planet itself was ten times worse. Jade had been there three times in her lifetime. Each time, she had to wear a mask to help with the smell. She had also gotten sick the first time she was there.

Jim let out a laugh at _Jade's_ misfortune. She could hear him say, "Karma." She let out a growl. She really hated mornings. Especially that one. Everything seemed to be going downhill. It just wasn't her day.

Montressor Spaceport was also a very crowded place. Unlike the shuttles, however crowded ports could be very good and very bad. They could be great for blending in and trying to get away from people who were chasing you, but they could also play against you. If you were following someone it could be very hard to keep track of them at a safe distance. Hence the being very good for making escapes. There were usually a lot more Galactic Space Police there too. You have to make sure your head was down and they didn't get a good look at you. That was why Jade made sure her hat was pulled down enough where people couldn't really get a good look at her face. Prison wasn't someplace she wanted to go back to again. It wasn't pleasant. She had been there a couple times.

Jim and his mother said their good-byes there at the shuttle offload. They talked for a could minutes as Delbert and Amelia talked about the ship. Jade just watched them. At least Jim had a chance to say good-bye to his mother before embarking on a dangerous mission. Jade had nobody. She never even got to say good-bye to her mother before she died. She had nobody left in her life to say good-bye to. She was on her own and that was how she thought it would be the rest of her life. Running from her past, everything she knew and her family.

"This way," Amelia said, guiding them to where the ship had been docked after the good-bye was over.

The five people tried to walk as close to each other as they could. Nobody wanted to get lost in a spaceport. You couldn't walk one step without walking into someone from a different planet, species or nationality. Spaceports had so many different people in them. It was a great place to meet new people.

The ship was absolutely beautiful. It's name was the R.L.S. Legacy. It was absolutely wonderful. It was small, but large enough for a voyage they were going to undergo. The ship's sails were in perfect shape along with deck and mast. Amelia definitely knew how to take care of a ship, Jade had to give her that. What she was afraid of was to find out how she _kept_ it in the condition it was in. She hated being a kitchen maid.

Kitchen maids were only woman who worked in the kitchen. They were right there doing everything with the cabin boys. They just had different names. Being a kitchen maid or a cabin boy wasn't fun at all. It was hard work. You had to work in the kitchen, clean the deck, wash the dishes and work on the side of the ship. It was a lot of manual labor and long hours. It was really something you didn't want to do.

"She'd beautiful," Jade complimented Amelia. "She is the same vessel that was taken to treasure planet, yes?"

"That is correct," Amelia confirmed. "Mr. Conway!"

"Yes Captain?" a man in a red jacket asked as he walked down over to the Captain. The man was human. He couldn't have been more than twenty years old. He was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. Under his red jacket you could see his muscles beneath his while button down shirt. His teeth were very white and perfectly straight. He was very good looking and it seemed as if he couldn't take his eyes off of Jade. That made her a little nervous.

"Where is the crew?" she asked rather annoyed. It was true. The crew was nowhere to be seen. "Because the last time I check with you, _we had a crew_!"

Amelia was a very scary person when she was angry or when she wanted to be. It surprised Jade. She had never seem Amelia like that. Of course, she had only known her less than twenty-four hours. She knew she wasn't someone to mess while, but it was still shocking to see her get angry.

"There was a problem with the engine, Captain. Most of the crew is trying to figure out what is wrong with it."

"And you thought it not important to inform me of this problem," she presses.

"Ma'am, I was hoping that it would have been taken care of before you and your party arrived," he defended. He wasn't making a great first impression on Jade, Jim, BEN and Delbert. Maybe this wasn't his day either.

"Get the crew up here now," she demanded.

"As you wish, Captain," Mr. Conway said. He took a small whistle from his pocket and placed it between his lips. He gently blew into it, but it still rang out loud and very annoying. The sound was piercing. That was how it was supposed to be. It was meant to get the attention of the crew who weren't right there.

Jade pinched the bridge of her noise to try and stop the head ache that came to her. Whenever she heard a whistle like that she got flashbacks of when it was like back on her father's ship working her hands to the bone and prison. They used the same kind of whistles at the prison she had been at when she was caught. She spent five months in prison. That was where she was branded.

"Are you all right, Jade?" asked BEN. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," she replied. She tried to ask like nothing was wrong, but she could tell they weren't buying it. "Just a bit of a head ache is all. Thank you for the concern, though. It's very sweet of you."

Before BEN had the chance to reply, however the crew started to gather up onto the deck in a straight line. Each person that lined up was a male. It wasn't that shocking, most people who worked on ships were male because generally they had more strength than woman did. There were woman who worked on ships though, like Amelia and Jade. They could probable name every part of the engine better than the engineer could.

"Crap," Jade muttered as she noticed two crew members in particular.

The two people she had noticed her humans. They were actually twin brothers that were not older than eighteen. Both boys were tall, muscular, very handsome with light brown hair and brown eyes. Their names were Peter and Patrick.

Jade had met them on the planet Porvic. She had gotten a job as an engineer on a ship and they had been the cabin boys for the ship. For the most part they got along. Or at least Peter and Jade did. Patrick wasn't a huge fan of Jade's. He had been fine with her up until he found out she was the famous pirate Jade Gypsum. After that he tried to stay as far away from her as possible and he didn't like his little brother hanging out with her.

There was actually another person who she notice, but more out of curiosity. The person was a Ructarianmanky. On Earth it looked like a monkey with blue fur and two tails. He had a guitar in one of his tails and he seemed to be humming a song to himself as he swung back and forth in the rigging. He was an odd one, Jade could tell. However, he did seem very entertaining to watch.

Jade shook her head as she turned her attention away from the monkey and pulled her hat down a little further down over her face. She really hoped they wouldn't notice her or make a scene. If they did see her, then she hoped they would let her talk to them about it. She was going to have to try and get them to keep this for her. She knew Peter would have no problem with it, but Patrick was another story all together. He hated her guts because of her father.

"Now," the Captain started, "Who is the engineer?"

"I am," a little dwarf said stepping forward.

"What is it that is wrong with my engine that you cannot figure out?" she asked him.

"Ma'am, if I knew what it was then it wouldn't be broken," he replied.

"Exactly," the Captain said. "You don't know. Now we are stuck here and unable to finish getting underway with our journey."

"I'm sorry, Captain. I'm trying my best," he pleaded.

"Captain," Jade called against her better judgment. The twins would know her voice anywhere, but she thought she could be able to fix engine and wanted to see if she could take a look. She was great with machines.

"Yes Jade," she said turning her attention to the girl. It was surprising how fast she could change her tone. She sounded furious one minutes and sweet to Jade the next.

"May I take a look?" she asked.

"I don't see what harm it could do," Amelia said. "Please, follow me." Amelia start to walk down the stairs to the engine room, but stopped and turned to ask one more question, "How long will it take to finish preparing the ship do departure?"

"Not till later tonight, Captain," Mr. Conway said. "I'll get them to finish loading everything and preparing everything. We can leave at 20:00 hours if the engine gets fixed."

"Don't worry, Captain. I'll get it fixed," the dwarf said.

"My tail you will," Amelia muttered. "Come down here and watch as Jade takes a look. Maybe she can teach you something." She turned back around and whispered to Jade as she passed by, "Please do not make me regret my words."

"I promise you, Captain. I'll get it fixed," she mimicked the dwarf. Amelia just shook her head and smiled as she continued to walk into the engine room.

The engine was enormous. "She's a beauty," Jade said as she took a look at the large container the engine was in. She flipped the switched that opened the large metal sheet that covered the engine and looked inside. "It's a Montridorian Solar 2,000, correct?"

"Yes," the dwarf replied.

"The best that is out there," Jade added. "Nice choice, Captain. The Montridorian Solar 3,000 came out about two years ago, but it's not as good as the 2,000. The 3,000 continued to break and you have to replay parts constantly, but with the 2,000 it usually is just something you have to clean or very rarely you have to replace something. Even then the parts for the 2,000 aren't as expensive as the 3,000 parts."

"You seem to know a lot about engines," Amelia said.

"I've worked on engines my while life," she replied as she took a better look inside. "I could take this apart, but it back together and do it over and over again with my eyes closed."

"Can you fix it?" Amelia asked.

Jade looked inside and checked the number one thing you were supposed to check. It was what was usually wrong with it. It was a blue wire that usually could come a little loose. All you had to do was push it back in and make sure to check it every day while you did your usual routine check. That was what was wrong with the engine. She wiggled it back in, close the engine back up and dusted her hands off.

"Start her up," Jade said. The engine came to life and Jade smiled. She turned to the dwarf and asked him, "What's the first thing you're supposed to check in a Montridorian Solar 2,000?"

"Uh, the Solar cog pipes," he said.

"That's the second thing," she informed him. "You're supposed to check the Higmin Blue first."

"That what?" he asked.

"The little blue wire," she restated.

"Even I knew that," Amelia said. "You're fired."

Jade widened her eyes from shock. She knew the guy wasn't a great engineer, but she didn't think she'd be the reason he got fired. She felt kind of bad. "Jade, who you like to be our new engineer?" Amelia asked.

"It would be an honor," she said.

"The jobs yours," she confirmed. "Do a check up and get back to me as soon as you can."

"Yes Ma'am," she replied.

"As for you," Amelia said, turning to the dwarf. "I want you off my ship as effective immediately."

Amelia and the dwarf walked up the stairs to the deck while Jade plopped her things down on one of the desks and picked up a tool box. She may as well start. She couldn't only imagine how much damage the crew had done to the piece of art while they were trying to figure out what was wrong. She wasn't going to let anyone touch it without her consent. No, it would be like breaking the law, in Jade's eyes. Yet she had broken the law many times. She was a pirate after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, I hope you like this chapter and please review and tell me what you think or what you may want to see happen. I'd like to thank TMNTdisneyfan2013 for review. Your comments are always welcome. Thanks.  
>~ Northie<strong>

Chapter 3  
>Beg On Your Hands And Knees<p>

It took Jade two hours to check over the whole engine. There had been so many things wrong with it because of that stupid dwarf that it took her twice as long she it should have. She had been closing up the last panel underneath when somebody walked in and scared her half to death. It was almost impossible to hear anything when you were under a loud engine, but she could hear the loud and clear when they spoke. She just hadn't heard them come in.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to even show your face to me," a male voice said. Jade hit her head on the panel she had finished up on and rolled out as she rubbed the spot where she knew there was going to be a bruise later. "Without even saying hello."

Jade got up and smiled at her long time friend. "Sorry Peter," she apologized. She gave him a hug and backed away to get a better look at him. He looked exactly how she remembered him to. Very handsome and very much like his brother. Jade was one of the only people in the universe who could tell them apart. "It's great to see you again."

"How long as it been? Two years?" he laughed.

"Two very long years," she confirmed.

"Aw, you missed me that much?" he played. He used to always flirt with her, but she knew he was nothing more than a very good friend. He one of the only people she really trusted her life with.

"Shut up," she laugh as she playfully hit him on the head with her wrench. She got a little grease on his head but thought it would be funny not to mention it. She put her wrench away and pulled out her clean pair of gloves. She was going to have to use one pair for working and the other for everything else. She didn't want to have to wear greasy and oily gloves all day long.

"Still got that I see," Peter said seeing the "P" on the back of her left hand.

"It won't go away," she tease him. "It's a scar."

"I knew that," he said pretending like he actually did know that.

"_Sure_ you did," Jade laughed. "I have to asked you a big favor though."

"Shoot," he told her.

"I know you won't tell anybody, but I want you to see if Patrick will keep this for me," she begged. "You know how he doesn't like me."

"He used to," he said. "He _really_ used to like you. I mean _really, really_ liked you."

"I get it," she said. "But would you please ask him for me? I'm afraid if I do it myself he'll just get angry and tell the Captain."

"He probably would," he confirmed.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better."

"I'm just stating the truth," he defended. "But if I ask him he might agree."

"It's not like I do any of that anymore," she justified. "Even when I met you I was running away from my past. From _him_. I can't pick my family, but I can pick my future, sort of. Going back to that life isn't what I want. Neither is prison." She muttered the last part so only she could hear.

"I know that," he said. "I'll go talk to him now if you want."

"That would be wonderful," she smiled at him.

"Did you hear what we are having for dinner tonight?" he asked her as they started to walk up the stairs to the desk.

"I haven't the slightest," she replied. "What are we feasting upon?"

"Bonzabeast stew," he groaned.

Jade couldn't help but groan as well. Bonzabeast stew was great and all, but it was one of the main things you ate on a ship. You'd be eating it over and over and over and over again until it was coming out your noise. The only person who could ever make you want to eat it day in and day out was John Silver. His food was great.

Jade had met Silver years and years ago. Back when she was five. He had been the cook on her father's ship for a couple years. He had been a better father to her than her real father had ever been. He had taught her so many things that she couldn't even count them. A lot of the pirating rules she learned from him rather than her real father. He taught her how to cook, clean, how to fix engines, how to be your own person, how to pick your fights, although she still had trouble doing that one every once in a while. She really missed that old cyborg. She wandered how he was doing.

"I have to go check in with the Captain," Jade said. "Why don't you go talk to Patrick."

"On it, babe," he called out knowing very well she didn't like him calling her that.

Jade just chose to ignore it and continued to walk to Captain Amelia's office. She knocked on the door a couple times before she heard Amelia tell her to come in. She opened the door and walked in to see Delbert and Amelia having tea at Amelia's desk. Jim and BEN were sitting by the window talking about something that Jade couldn't hear.

"The engine's all fixed up, Captain. They sure messed it up when they were all trying to fix it. Next time something goes wrong, I promise it won't take me as long to fix it as this one did," she apologized.

"I would hope not," Amelia said. "Thank you, Jade. I can see having you aboard as engineer will be most helpful."

"Yes Ma'am," she said.

"How come she gets a real job while I'm stuck as cabin boy again?" Jim complained.

Amelia didn't answer. That got Jade a little suspicious. Instead, Amelia just changed the subject. "Jade, please close the door and come in. We have something to discuss."

Jade shut the door and sat on a chair next to Delbert. She was a little curious about what this was all about. However, it also worried her greatly. Amelia's suspicions from earlier that morning were still there. Jade could feel that tension. She knew she had to make sure she kept to her story and that Peter and Patrick wouldn't spoil this. Hopefully, Peter could get Patrick to go along with it.

"I don't trust this crew," Amelia said coming straight to the point.

Jade visibly relaxed at that. She could say the same. Jade didn't trust any of them except for Peter. She knew she could also trust Delbert, but it wasn't like he'd be able to defend her in a battle. He wasn't that strong of a person. Jade could easily over power him if she needed to. She could overpower any of them if she needed to, but she wouldn't fight fair.

Pirates never fought fair. That was another pirating rule. Jade kept to that rule because it was one of the only way she was able to survive all those years on her own. It kept her alive in not only fighting , but also expecting the unexpected. If she expected what others didn't then she was ahead of the game and they couldn't surprise her.

"Like you didn't trust the crew from the last trip?" Delbert asked.

"That is correct," Amelia said. "Conway I trust. I've known his even before he enrolled in the academy. I've known his family longer. He can't be corrupted. The other people on this ship I don't trust."

Jade almost said they could trust Peter and Patrick, but that would give part of herself away. She couldn't do that to herself nor could she put the twins in a situation like that. She couldn't ruin their futures like that.

"What are we going to do about it?" Jim asked.

"I want you all to be on high alert," Amelia informed. "I want you to find out all you can about them and report to me if you find out anything suspicious. We're not taking any chances."

_Keeping them around is a chance,_ thought Jade. _Never keep anyone around that you think will either turn on you or wouldn't provide something for you in the future_. It sounded very selfish, but that was another teaching from the pirates. That had also come in good use.

"Is that understood?" Amelia asked. Everyone agreed with what she said. "Now," she continued, "I need the map."

Jade instantly looked straight at the Captains eyes with her wide from shock. She couldn't just hand over the map. After having it for two, almost three years she wasn't just going to let it go willingly. Yet, if she didn't then there would be even more suspicion. But even then, she didn't trust it in the hands of anybody but herself. Not even in the hands of Peter.

"I'm sorry," Jade began to say, "I can't do that."

"And why is that?" she asked with a hint of sternness in her voice.

"Because I can't," she said with slight mystery. "I promised I'd never hand it over. I can't have anybody else have it."

"And who did make that promise with?" she pushed. She wanted answers.

"That is none of your concern," she defended. "It _doesn't_ concern you. I can promise you that nobody will get a hold of the map. It's safe in my hands."

Amelia sat there watching Jade very intently. Jade held the stare. Amelia smiled and said, "All right." That sort of shocked everyone, even Jade. She thought she wouldn't be able to leave without handing it over. "There is one more thing that I need."

"What would that be, dear?" Delbert asked.

"There is a package I need you to pick up at a store here in port," Amelia said. "Jade, BEN, Jim," she said, "I'd like you to pick it up for me." She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Jim.

"What kind of package is it?" Jim asked looking at the paper.

"Charts," she replied. "Very important charts."

"Don't you worry, Captain! We're on it," BEN said rather excited. "We won't let you down!" BEN started to run out of the room. He had grabbed Jim's are as he started and grabbed a hold of Jade when he passed her by. "See you soon!"

BEN pulled Jade and Jim off the ship and into the crowd. After realizing that BEN had no idea where they were supposed to be going, Jim pulled him to a stop and read out the directions to the place they had to go. BEN once again grabbed Jim and Jade again and started to run off.

Jade was getting sick of being pulled around. She didn't like it when people just grabbed a hold of you and dragged you around. It wasn't fun. She didn't do it to him, did she? She wished he wouldn't do it to her.

As BEN started to slow down he let go of Jade and Jim. They walked behind the marching robot and tried to avoid bumping into each other and others around them. The last thing either Jade and Jim wanted to do was bump into each other and start fighting again. They would rather not even be there with each other.

When they finally got to the place, Jade and BEN stayed outside while Jim went in. BEN would have broken everything in the place. Jade just stayed outside with him to keep him company. BEN kept rambling on and one back everything he saw in the window of the place and how much he wanted to go in. Jade had listened for a couple minutes but later tuned him out because he was getting rather annoying. She didn't know how Jim could stand it.

"Have you found anything?" a voice said a distance away.

Jade wasn't trying to ease drop, but it was more interesting than what BEN was talking about. She couldn't help but close her eyes and try to listen in on what they were saying.

"I have a tip," another voice said. "The girl isss sssomewhere here, but I can't figure out where. Ssshe'sss bound to have heard we were here on Montresssssor. Ssshe'sss mossst likely trying to find a way off."

This was getting interesting. Jade was becoming more and more drawn into the conversation. She wanted to know who they were and who they were looking for. It sure did sound familiar.

"The boss won't be happy if we lose her," one said. "He'll kill us."

The made her open her eyes and look down the street in the direction that the people were in. Her eyes widened as she saw who they were. One was a large Scorpianian. They were a large scorpion race that reminded jade a lot like Scroop, a pirate she wasn't very fond of. He was dead, though. Jim had killed him on the voyage to Treasure Planet. She had to give the guys props for that. The second guy was a Visciman. It was a bird species. He had large grey wings and an orange beak.

Jade knew them well. The Scorpianian was Vender and the Visciman was Raptor. They were both pirates that worked under her father. They weren't very nice guys. They often yelled at one another or anybody they could get agitated. They liked to fight just for the heck of it. They enjoyed creating chaos.

_Great,_ Jade thought. _They were talking about me. This is going to be fun._

"BEN," Jade said. "I'll be back in a couple minutes. If Jim comes out before I come back tell him I went to get something. I'll meet you back at the ship if that happens."

"Wait!" BEN begged. "Don't leave me all alone. I don't like being alone!"

"I'm not leaving forever, BEN. I'll see you later. Plus, Jim should be out in a minute."

She didn't give him a chance to say anything else. She walked away. She stuck her hands in her pockets and walked right past the two pirates. She had to make sure they saw her and followed her. That was the only way she could stop them from searching for her. She was going to have to stop them then and there. It was her only chance of not being followed.

She could hear them following as she walked down into a small alley. She knew it was going to be a dead end. That was what she needed it to be. She needed a nice, secure place to engage them. She couldn't have anybody around her getting involved and hurt for something they didn't need to be concerned with.

When Jade got to the end of the alley she took off her hat and pulled out a small dagger she kept strapped to her leg at all times. She had a lot of weapons she hid on herself in case she needed them. Her favorite was the dagger her brother had given her for her tenth birthday.

"I thought it wasss you," Vender said. "You are a fool to think we wouldn't sssee that."

"I had no doubt you would know it was me," Jade said playing with the dagger in her hands. "I just needed you to follow me."

Raptor smirked at what she was saying. "So you wanted us to follow you. Does that mean you want to come back and turn yourself in?"

"If I were to turn myself in it wouldn't be to Daddy dearest. It would be to the Galactic Police," Jade replied. "And I don't have any intention of putting myself back in prison."

"Sssso we're jussst going to have to take you prisssoner," Vender said. "Bossss would be pleassssed to have you back, child. We shall get praisssse and glory from him."

"You actually think he'll praise you?" Jade said. "There is only one thing my father cares about in the universe. That one thing would be himself. He doesn't care about you or me or any of the crew. He would kill you in a second if it meant something was in it for him."

"Nonsense," Raptor cawed. "You know nothing."

"I know nothing," jade repeated with a laugh. "The man in my father. He taught me everything he knows. Don't you think I would get him more than you?"

"Shut up!" Raptor called. He lunged.

o-0-o

"Where'd she go?" Jim asked as he exited the store he had been waiting in to get Amelia's package. "She just couldn't wait could she."

"She said she had to go get something," BEN told Jim. "She said to meet her back at the ship if she wasn't back by the time you came out."

"What could she possibly be doing?" he asked more to himself than BEN.

"Maybe she had to get a nice tall glass of oil. Or maybe some lung nuts to snack on," BEN said. "I'm making myself hungry. "

Jim just shook his head at the things the robot was craving. How could he think a human would eat or drink any of those things. It would kill them. He couldn't help but find it kind of amusing though. BEN definitely kept things interesting.

"She better not be getting into any trouble," Jim muttered as he started walking back to the ship. "If she loses the map Amelia is going to kill her. That is if I don't do it first."

o-0-o

"Please, I beg of you!" Raptor begged on his hands and knees. "Don't kill me! I'll do anything."

Jade stood above him with her dagger in her hand. She raised her hand and it collided with Raptor's feathery head. He fell to the ground next to Vender with a loud thud. Jade watch his body fall for a minute before turning around and walking away from the scene. She placed her dagger back in the holster on her leg.

"Yeah," she said a little distant and annoyed. "Anything." She shook her head and smirked annoyed. "I hate pirates. No loyalties at all."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
>I Beg<p>

Jade had made her way back to the ship and went directly into the engine room. Most engineers on a ship lived in the engine room. They'd string up a hammock and live in there instead of staying in the cramped crew quarters. It wasn't a fun place to stay. It smelt bad and wasn't the cleanest place to stay. She was glad she was going to get a little privacy from all the testosterone on the ship.

After unpacking what little contents she had in her back and making sure everything was set up the way she liked it, she walked out of her little area and to the galley for dinner before they got ready for the launch. They had decided that it would be better that the crew had something in their stomachs before they took off.

Jade walked in and looked around the room. A lot of the tables were full of people and there wasn't a lot of room for her to go. Then she saw Peter stand up and wave her over. Unfortunately Jim and Patrick were sitting with him. She just took a deep break and walked over to their table. She put on a somewhat believable smile. She sat down after she gave Peter a quick hug.

"You know each other?" Jim asked.

"Yes," Jade said. She gave Peter a look that said she would come up with a story. "We met when we were all working on a ship a couple years ago."

"_Really_," Jim said.

"Yup," Peter said. He leaned closer to Jade and whispered in her ear so only she could hear, "Patrick wants to talk to you after the launch. Alone."

"Okay," Jade replied. She was very unsure about that, but she was going to have to. She didn't have much of a choice.

"How long have you been spacing, Jade?" Jim asked.

"Well," Jade said thinking of a response. She had to make sure it went along with her story. "I worked on various ships since I was ten. I got another job in a Montressor diner and I was there for almost three years."

"How long have you been on your own?" he asked a little more nicely.

"That's not really any of your business, Hawkins. I'm not prying into your life," Jade said. _There I go again,_ Jade thought. _He was actually being nice too. What is up with me lately? This isn't what I'm usually like. _

"Whatever," he muttered. He sat back in his chair and pushed the food in his bowl around with his spoon. He seemed a little distant.

"Come on, Jade. I'll go with you to get your food," Peter said.

Jade and Peter got up from the table and walked over to the cook distributing the food. He filled a bowl and handed it to her rather rushed and she got some on her shirt. Jade gasped at the burning sensation that the stew caused on her arm. There was a rather large stain and banzabeast stew wasn't easy to get out of white clothing.

The crew noticed what had happened and stopped what they were doing to watch what was going on. Most likely hoping there would be a fight. It would be something entertaining to watch. And if the crew really wasn't trustworthy and were pirates they would really love to watch a fight. There were usually fights all the time on pirate ships. That also depended on who the captain was though. Most captains didn't care, but if you had a strict one like Jade's father, they would really be in deep trouble.

The cook looked at her a little scared. He wasn't the strongest looking guy. He was actually a little fuzzy purple guy with three very big blue eyes. He had six arms and two legs that were very short. He only went up to Jade's stomach. He eyes kept growing wider and wider as he looked up to the girl waiting for her response.

Jade wasn't really mad at the little Fuzorian. He was in a rush to get the food out and caused an accident. She couldn't blame him for that. He was trying to feed a crew of a ship. That was no easy task. If you didn't get the food out at once when they wanted it then they would get fussy and you didn't want a fussy, hungry crew. It wasn't fun.

Jade picked up her bowl and handed it back to the guy with a smile. "May I have some more? I didn't get filled up on the first."

The fuzz ball smiled at her and quickly but carefully filled it and handed it back to her. The crew went back to their conversations and ignored the cook and the two crew members making their ways back to their tables. Jade and Peter made sure to walk slower than they had to get up there. Peter knew she wanted to know about what Patrick wanted.

"I think he wants you to ask him yourself," he said in a hushed voice.

"_Perfect_," she muttered back. She wasn't going to enjoy it. "That'll be fun."

"I don't get why though," Peter added. "He hates you."

"Thanks," she replied. "I love it when I have people hating me. It makes me feel loved."

"You're welcome," he replied with a smirk. "But you get what I mean, right? Why would he want to talk to you if he didn't like you? I just don't get my brother sometimes."

"I didn't get mine either," she said more to herself rather Peter.

The two sat back down at the table and finished their food. Peter, Patrick and Jim seemed to get along very well together, which sort of worried Jade. What if Jim and Patrick got to close and Patrick told Jim about Jade? She couldn't have that. Jim already didn't like Jade, no thanks to Jade. She didn't give him any reason to like her.

She was really going to have to beg to Patrick. He could see she wasn't bad, right? Yet, if he had seen what she had done earlier with the pirates then he wouldn't have any reason to trust her again. Maybe he could just pretend she wasn't there?

This was giving her a head ache.

"Where was it you went, anyways?" Jim asked. "BEN hates to be left alone."

"I had to get something," Jade said. "Didn't he tell you that?"

"I was just wondering," Jim asked.

"All hands on deck!" Mr. Conway's voice rang. Then his little whistle blew giving Jade an even bigger head ache.

Most of the people scattered out of the galley quickly, that included Jim and Peter. Jade slowly stood up from her spot to see Patrick across from her doing the same, but watching her intently. Jade sighed as she looked at the person she used to call a friend.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she asked.

"Give me one reason," he said slowly. "One reason why I shouldn't have you sent back to prison where you belong."

Jade watched his expression for a moment before thinking of something to give him. What real reason did she have to give him? He was right. She was a pirate. She had done a lot of horrible things in her life and that didn't give her any exception from the law. She was dangerous. Who knew if she was really a trustworthy person? What if she was there just to take their ship and use it for her own pirating pleasure?

"You wouldn't have a job," she said. "Without me, this spacing mission wouldn't be underway."

"What reason do I have to trust what you say?" he asked. "You lied to me about who you were without a single regret."

"You think I like lying to people all the time?" asked harshly in a hushed voice. "Do you know what I would give to have lived a normal life? I've been trying to live like a normal person for years, but do you know what keeps stopping me? _He_ does."

"Why shouldn't I just hand you over to him now, then? Save us the trouble of him coming to get you," he added.

"Pat," Jade said. She walked closer to him and looked him closer into the eyes. "I beg of you." _Great, now I sound like Raptor_. "I'm not here to do any harm. All I want is to go on this voyage, find a treasure and try to live the rest of my life away from what has happened in the past. I can't do that if you follow up on your threat."

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but was bighting his tongue. His jaw was clenched shut and his brow nit together. "Fine," he finally said, shocking Jade. "But I don't want you anywhere near me. And if anything happens to Peter, I swear I'll tell everyone."

"Deal," Jade said. Patrick started to walk over to the stairs, but was stopped when Jade added more to what they were talking about. "I may have lied about the past, but that doesn't mean who you got to know back then wasn't who I really am. I'm not a different person. I'm still me."

"That's what worries me," he muttered. He walked up the stairs and onto the deck.

Jade stood there for a moment just thinking. Maybe he was right. Maybe she couldn't stop everything from her past from coming back. Maybe she couldn't stop what pirate instinct she had. Maybe she really was a bad person. Maybe she was going to be running from her father for the rest of her life. Maybe she was bound to become a pirate again.

But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try and change all of that.

o-0-o

Launches were always interesting. The crew was all running around getting everything set for takeoff. Jade loved takeoff. The excitement, the adrenaline, the feeling of no gravity for a couple seconds made you feel free. Jade needed to be reminded about what being free felt like every once in a while.

Jade's job was done. She was free to enjoy the launch. Jade sat in the rigging watching everyone scrabble around. It was sort of funny seeing them all like that. The only other time you'd get to see them rushing around like that was when they'd be attacked and Jade didn't want to see that. No, that rush was something she'd be very happy to never feel again.

"All clear Captain," the man in the crow's nest yelled.

"All hands to stations!" Conway welled. After everyone was in place, he continued to yell orders next to Amelia. "Loosen all solar sails!" The ship slowly floated up into the air as the sails floated down and were tied off. "Brace up!" The gravity gave way as the continued to go up and the sails stored energy.

"Engage artificial gravity," Amelia said.

Jade loved the feeling of floating and having no strings attached, but she also like having her feet on something solid. Floating off into open space was not fun nor safe. In a matter of moments, you'd fly out of the air pocket around the ship and die. Jade rather liked living so she preferred the gravity.

"Due North," Amelia said.

The launch from that point on was rather boring. Nothing much happened. Once they were in space thing slowed down and the crew fell into shifts. Jade jumped down off the rigging and sighed. She was bored. She decided it would be best to go back into the engine room and do some work. At least then she'd have something to do and get her mind off of what Patrick had said.

Jade worked on one of the long boats for a while when she heard two pairs of footsteps same into her working quarters. She looked up from the engine she was working one to see Peter and Jim. They plopped themselves down on the bench in the long boat. They seemed to be making themselves comfortable. She shook her head and continued working on the engine. She had been working on it for a good fifteen minutes before she found what was wrong with it.

"Would you please hand me that wrench?" she asked. Peter picked up the wrench from the small tool box behind him and handed it to her. "Thank you."

"See," Peter said to Jim. "She treats me fine."

Jade stopped working for a moment and looked up at the two teenagers. "What are you getting at, Pete?"

"Me and Jim-," he started to say, but was cut off by Jade.

"Jim and _I_," she corrected.

"- were talking," he continued. "He said you haven't been very "_civilized_" with him. I told him you treat me just fine."

"That's true," she said. She looked to Jim and said, "Hawkins, I'm sorry for my behavior lately. Things have just been troubling me lately and I guess they were starting to get to me." He looked at her suspiciously as she pulled off the glove to the hand that wasn't branded and stuck it out for him to shake.

He looked at her hand for a moment before shaking it. She smirked as they let go and she slid the glove back on. She continued to work and said, "Now may we belay this business? I have bigger things to worry about."

"Aye," Pete said.

"I guess," Jim replied.

"Good," she laughed closing the hood of the engine and tossing the wrench into the tool box. "Now get out of my room, savvy?"

"What?" Pete asked.

Jade just laughed as she got out of the boat. "This is my room, after all. You don't see me barging into your room in the middle of the night."

Peter shook his head and got out of the long boat followed by Jim. "Are you sure you don't want us to stay? We could play a game or two. I have some things in mind it you're inte-," Jade cut him off.

"You're one of the biggest perverts in at least seven of the closest planets," Jade said pushing him over to the door. Jim following her with a look of amusement on his face. "If you think I'd ever 'play a game or two' with you, there's something wrong. Now get out." She shut the door in his face as she pushed him out of the engine room. She turned around and ran into Jim. She looked up at him, completely forgetting he was there. She opened the door for him as he laughed. He walked down the hall as she shut the door once more.


End file.
